Without you I'll be miserable at best
by Strangerthings4
Summary: Serine had a normal life...until her mother died. Then she moves to Mystic Falls and meets the weirdest people. Could this be the downfall of the girl, or could it merely be a new begining? Damonxoc rated t to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, thanks for reading...i hope you like it!!! i'll try to make the next chapter even better, as long as i get atleast one review!!! Thanks!!!!**

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Serine walked across her new room. It was a little on the small side, but it was exactly how she remembered it. She was not happy about being back here, but being unhappy was becoming regular occurrence. Ever since her mother died a month ago, she saw no reason to be happy.

She was fine with her old life. She had been in Pennsylvania, had good friends, and a loving mother to come home to. Why that had to change, only fate knew. She was now in Mystic Falls, Virginia. A colonial town with a huge history her father had said. He knew she was good in history so figured that meant she loved it. No, not really; she hated history, and just so happened to get good grades in the class. So his argument was void.

She laid on her bed thinking about her first day of school tomorrow. Ugh, this was going to suck. She looked next to her at a picture of her mother and herself hugging on a boat. They were on her mother's ex-boyfriends yacht. Having money had privileges, but as far as the ex was concerned, it didn't give you the right to cheat. Especially when the girl you cheat on has a daughter who catches you.

She decided to go wash up before going to bed. It was only nine, but it was good enough. She went into the bathroom next door to her room and looked in the mirror. She was tanned still from the summer on the yacht. She had big hazel eyes and long, thick chestnut hair; it looked brown sometimes, and reddish at others. She had straight teeth after four years of braces. Although she was kind of chunky, she was not overweight at all. She had a voluptuous body, as her best friend Tasha used to say. She had long fingers that had been painted purple on the nails.  
She washed her face and brushed her teeth before brushing and braiding her hair. She then put on old flannel pajama bottoms and an old baggy t-shirt. She climbed into bed and cried herself to sleep.

The next morning Serine was getting dressed for school. She had already washed up and was now looking through her closet. She decided on a favorite bands t-shirt, slate colored jeans and a red hoodie. She through on her purple high tops and went to the bathroom to do her hair and her makeup. She ran a brush through her thick hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. She put on some eyeliner, straightened her bangs, grabbed her backpack and went down the stairs.

Her father was sitting there, at the table, reading his paper. Serine grabbed a muffin out of a bowl in the middle of the table, and helped herself to the orange juice, left out by her father.

Her father was a man of very few words. He was a brunette with a goatee. He was very built, and wore a security outfit. He was a bailiff at the local courthouse.

She heard feet shuffling upstairs. A minute later, her stepmother walked down and gave her father a kiss on the cheek.

She was wearing a professional black, sleek skirt suit and black pumps. She had blonde hair and black glasses that made her look very intelligent. Her hair was up in a neatly done bun. She looked like an all-around professional. This is what she was going for, seeing as she was a lawyer.

"Good morning Kyle," she said with a perfect smile.

"good morning Cheyenne," he said looking at her with adoring eyes.

'good bye puke-worthy house hold' Serine though as she put her glass in the sink, and walked out of the door. She didn't really know where she was going, but she could figure it out.

"Oh, I'll pick you up on my way home, so just wait for me after school!" Cheyenne yelled after her as the screen door shut.

"Ok, see you then," Serine yelled behind her. She looked down at a paper with her bus stop on it. It said Oak and third. Her house was on Oak and second, so she just had to make sure she didn't go the wrong way, and she was the clear—for a few minutes at least.

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**Ok, i know sucky ending, but it's all i have!!! so i'll write more, just please review! they make me sososososo happy!!!!!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello guys!!! Wow i got fifty five hits the last time i checked!!! that's so cool, even if you didn't comment, add or like it haha! well sorry this took a while to upload, I had most of this week off, but i don't go on the computer, i use my itouch, and i'm not sure if you can use that to write...hmm i'll have to check that out haha. **

**Well, in this story, i actually stole a purse from this website:/photos/20343339N00/2314815852/. It's really cute i think lol. I also kinda sorta stole this pin:.?main_page=index&cPath=1_163. Check them out...Oh i also stole the song rain by Breaking ben, so i hafta say i don't own them, although i wouldn't mind owning ben bunley! =d i also use if you think i'm sexy by Rod Stewart and Haven't met you yet by Micheal Buble, and i don't own them either haha.****  
**

**ok, well please review, and also, if you have a pic or a link to a site to something materialistic with an elephant on it, please send it in, and i'll add it in!!! Oh also (i keep thinking of more things to say lol) i make fun of elena's head to body proportions, so don't hate me, it isn't throughout the whole story, i swear! and I kinda make Caroline mean...srry!**

**oh, and if any of you read my reviews and see that i reviewed my own, i swear my dad did it...i know it's embarassing to admit, but it's better than doing it myself =p**

**Thank you Bonnie4eva x for reviewing!!  
**

As Serine walked, she noticed that there was a mob of kids about a block away from her house, all by the street. Using common sense, which she didn't have much of, as many people like to tell her, Serine figured this was her bus stop. She adjusted the strap on her shoulder and walked up to the group.

Serine noticed that countless pairs of eyes were on her at the moment, and she did not like that one bit. She just kept her eyes to the ground and kept walking. She was afraid that the stares would start to burn through her back.

Once she arrived at the bus stop after what seemed like hours, but was probably only five minutes, tops, Serine looked around herself. She saw groups of friends, some loners, and had no idea what to do. Should she talk to someone? Should she just stand in the back, and wait it out? No. Life is too short to not do something as easy as to talk to a person who is by themselves.

She saw a girl with shoulder length brown hair that was straightened, and bangs that went over her eyes. She was tall and skinny. She had big blue eyes, and braces. She was wearing black skinny jeans, a purple t-shirt, and skater shoes. She had birthmarks scattered over her arms and her neck. She had a red purse and a college algebra book in her arms.

The girl was listening to an older blue iPod nano. She was constantly picking it up and moving her finger to change the songs.

Serine walked up the girl.

"Um, hello, I'm Serine. Today's my first day. Is this the bus stop for Robert E. Lee High?" She asked.

"Yea it is. I'm Kaylene. Where are you from?" She asked quietly with a shy smile on her face.

"I'm from PA," Serine answered.

Kaylene gave a look of interest. They conversed for about five minutes until the bus drove up.

Kaylene gave an uncertain look, and then gestured to a seat across from where she sat next to a blonde girl who had her hair in a ponytail, and it curled. This would have looked very girly, but this girl had a rock feel to her. Nothing she was wearing made her come to this conclusion. She was wearing a maroon t-shirt and plain jeans. She was even wearing basketball shoes!

Serine sat across from Kaylene, in the set appointed to her by the girl. She saw the two girls chatting quietly, while taking her iPod out of her big elephant bag. It was black, with a bluish-grayish elephant on the front. The inside was blue, with darker blue colored flowers.

She put on her music. Rain by Breaking Benjamin came on. It was one of her favorite bands ever, so her mood was uplifted, and she got a rather optimistic mood. She looked to her left to the person she was sharing a seat with. It was a blonde girl. She was on her phone talking to someone. Serine caught a few words.

"I still don't get why you couldn't pick me up." There was a silence as the person on the other line answered her. "Oh, so Elena can't pick me up too?" another silence. "Matt, please. I'm on a _bus_! Don't you complain about being awkward! I'm surrounded by people I don't know, and I thought I knew everyone!" She pouted while listening to the other person, apparently this Matt person. "Yeah, yeah I know…I love you too…see you." She hung up the phone after making kissing noises into the speaker.

I quickly went back to my music. I realized I hadn't been paying attention, and a cheesy song had come on. It was if you think I'm sexy by Rod Stewart…Probably from her mother or father. She didn't mind the song, but didn't expect it to hear the catchy seventy's song. She changed it and decided on 'Haven't met you yet' by Michael Buble. It was a personal favorite.

Serine risked another look at the girl. She had bottle blonde hair that reached her shoulder blades, blue eyes, and a very disgusted look on her face. She was looking directly at Serine with a sneer on her face. Serine quickly looked down at her iPod.

_Oh wow…if looks could kill, I think she would have just strangled me to a slow death…how could she hate me already? Oh wow, great way to start my day. And I thought the music had me in a good mood! _Serine thought to herself.

She decided to make the most of this 'opportunity'. She looked up again to see the girl still looking at her, this time she was glaring though.

"Um, hi?" Serine said, making it sound more like a question than a friendly gesture. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm serine, today's my first day."

"Oh, really? You look familiar." The girl deadpanned. Just as serine was about to go on with the one-sided conversation, the bus stopped again. Two boys came on the bus, followed by a girl. One of the boys was a brunette with brown eyes and a lanky build. The other was a blonde with blue eyes and a jock build.

Serine noticed that the girl next to her automatically smiled and waved at the blonde. He smiled back and sat in front of us. The brunette sat next to him. Serine then saw the girl behind them. She was tanned, and had long brown hair. She had big brown eyes, and her head to body proportion was sort of off, she noticed. It wasn't too bad, but her head was just a little too small, she mused silently. She then also mentally slapped herself, and then thought of all of the people who would be mentally criticizing her today…maybe even verbally. The girl sat in front of Kaylene, who serine saw was practically drooling. She didn't see over who because the girls purse had caught her attention.

The purse was rather plain, but what caught Serine's eye was the elephant pin on it. Serine had always had an obsessive elephant obsession. Her room was full of them, and most of her clothes had them on it, this shirt was part of the third of her clothes that were elephantless. She had to comment on it. She reached over to tap the girls shoulder to tell her how much she loved it, when the blonde girl next to her decided she wanted to sit next to her boyfriend. So this was Matt. Of course, serine couldn't have been politely asked…no, instead, she got 'accidentally' pushed.

"Oh, I'm soooo sorry!" the girl said with mock horror on her face. "Maybe you should just sit her Matt; she doesn't get how much room I need." She stated.

Matt gave me a shocked look and reached down to help Serine get up, but Kaylene and the brunette girl were already helping her up. "Caroline, maybe next time you should warn people when you need to 'stretch'" the girl said.

"I'm so sorry, I'm just not used to this Elena…hey I thought you were driving my boyfriend today," Caroline stated, with extra emphasis on 'my'.

The girl whose name was apparently Elena said "Oh, my car broke down, so instead of him walking the whole way, I told him to just jump on my bus." There was obvious tension.

The girl next to me (Caroline?) said "Oh well that's too bad. Did you get Stefan to look at it or is Damon gonna fix it? Or will you use Matt? Or will another man magically jump to the rescue? We all know how that happens all of the time." Gosh, jealousy much????

They just sat there glaring at each other, and finally Serine couldn't stand it. "I love your elephant pin," She said. Oh wow, she sounded so stupid.

Elena looked up at her in surprise, but smiled a very sweet and friendly smile. "Thank you, my parents got it for me when I was little,"

"Well, I love elephants, and it caught my eye, it's so cute!" She gushed

Elena laughed "I love elephants too, but nothing obsessive. I love your purse. It is really cute." They both chuckled at the elephant conversation they were having. "Do I know you?"

"Oh, no; Today's my first day."

"Really? What grade are you in?"

"I'm a senior, how about you?"

Serine noticed Kaylene watching this conversation. Serine had a good feeling again. She shouldn't let some stupid girl ruin her day in the first few minutes.

"Me too! Can I see your schedule?" Elena said excited. Serine was excited too, that she had made two friends before homeroom. That's when she realized she didn't trade schedules with Kaylene.

Her attention was turned back to Elena when she said "Oh! We have four classes together, and lunch!" Elena read on and said "And our lockers are practically next to each other!"

Just as Serine was about to ask what classes they had together, the bus pulled up the high school.

"Come on! I'll show you the way to your locker, and help you from there" Elena offered.

Kaylene smiled and said "See ya, maybe in school, maybe tomorrow morning" she shrugged with a smile to say she didn't mind that serine wasn't walking with her, and walked off with the rocker with the girly curl.

Elena looked behind her to see if Serine was coming.

"Coming!!" she yelled forward and jogged a little to catch up.

School was waiting, so Serine swallowed the lump in her throat and moved on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello!!! Well first of all i wanted to just say i am amazed at all of the views i got! I have now gotten 263 views on this story! I got 3 reviews for the last chapter, but they were all anonymous(Yea i spelt that wrong...) so thank you mystery people! This chapter just didnt wanna come out, so if it sounds a little forced...it was haha. **

**I do not own vampire diaries!**

**O guys, i just read over my last chapter, and realized i had slipped into first person! please excuse me if i do, i'll try really hard not to, but i do it sometimes DX haha anyway enjoy!**

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Serine looked around herself. She had wound up walking behind Elena, and was making her way through unfamiliar halls. She saw a lot of people and started to get nervous. It was just hitting her now that she was going to a new school. She wasn't going to know anyone. She just followed the brunette girls, pushed aside her fears, and decided to take today one step at a time.

Once they finally stopped at a pair of lockers, Elena worked on her own, while Serine looked at her schedule for the combination. "So where are you from?" Elena asked.

"I'm from Pennsylvania." She replied, but felt that she should say more for the conversation. "Have you ever been there?"

"No I haven't but I always wanted to. Why did you decide to move here?" Elena asked.

"My mother died, and I lived with her. So now I'm living with my dad." Serine answered, trying to sound indifferent, but was crying inside.

The next thing she knew there were a pair of arms around her, preventing her from moving. She looked up a little to see Elena hugging her. When she let go, she said "I'm sorry I don't know what came over me…my parents were both killed not too long ago too. I know how it feels."

Serine looked at her, and smiled. She then hugged the girl quickly. Elena looked surprised but happy. They then went back to opening their lockers, but talking warmly. When they stopped talking, it wasn't an awkward silence, but comfortable.

As they then leaned on the lockers, just talking, a boy walked over and kissed Elena. He was tall with light brown hair and a stocky build.

Elena blushed a little, but smiled and said "This is Serine; today is her first day here." and put her arm around the brunettes shoulders.

Serine smiled and said "Hello!"

The boy smiled back and said, "Hello, I'm Stephan Salvatore. Its very nice to meet you." He spoke in a very articulate way.

"You too," She answered, feeling as if her answer wasn't enough, she added "Are you in Elena's grade?"

"Yes, I am, and yourself?"

Serine was a little taken aback at his perfect way of speaking. "Yes I am," she replied.

Elena was smiling at Stephan while Serine put her jacket in her locker. Elena then took out her phone and looked at the screen. Then she said "Oh, we have to get going! We can't make her late on her first day!"

With that, the trio walked down the crowded hallway and into a classroom. It was fairly boring, with the big windows across one wall, with cabinets lining the bottom. There were inspirational posters hanging up, as well as grammar.

Serine looked at the kids. They were all rather normal looking, ranging from the peppy cheerleaders, and jocks to the stoners, emos, punk and scene kids, and the in-between kids.

While looking, Serine saw a familiar face.

"Kaylene!" She exclaimed.

"Hi Serine," She said quietly, but with a smile on her face. "I didn't know you were in my English class."

Serine smiled back. "Me neither!" Kaylene was in the back corner, and there were a few empty seats around her. Serine sat right next to her. Elena sat in front of Serine, and Stephan next to her.

Serine took her books out of her bag, put them under her desk, save the notebook and pen, and looked at her schedule.

It said:

1 Honors English 4 Mrs. Amzy

2 History Mr. Tanner

3 Calculus 1 Mrs. Tylar

4 Animal Science 2 Mr. Lishbaw

5 Honors Spanish 4 Miss. Jacobs

6 lunch

7 Digital Photography Mr. Zahay

8 Keyboarding 3 Miss. Seleba

She looked up at Kaylene. "Do we have any classes together?" she asked the quiet girl.

Kaylene took the paper in her hands and read it, her lips moving slightly, shaping the words.

"Yeah, we obviously have this class, History, lunch, digital photography and keyboarding together."

"That's so cool!" Elena turned around then to see what she was talking about.

"Oh, we have these classes together." She pointed at the English, History, Calculus, and Spanish classes.

"Really? How are the teachers?" She asked, looking at both of the girls, to show she was asking both of them.

"The history teacher is dead, now we have Mr. Saltzman. He's really cool. Everyone loves him. Even my brother, and he's always been the troubled one…up until recently." Elena said, with a distant look in her eyes after mentioning the last part.

"Mr. Zahay is really boring. His voice is very monotone. It gets annoying after a while. The class is fun though, after you get past the droning." Kaylene said rolling her eyes. "And keyboarding is cool, but the teacher is very strict. You cant do anything wrong or she will slap your hand with the ruler she is constantly carrying around."

Serine rubbed the back of her hand, imagining it. She looked at Elena, who was still staring off into space. She waved a hand in front of her eyes. Elena jumped. "Sorry, I wasn't sure if you were ok or not." Serine apologized. "Are you ok?"

"Yea I'm fine, thanks." She smiled and turned around when the teacher walked in.

Serine looked at Kaylene who smiled at her. As Serine was going to make small talk, she heard someone yell, "Who's the new kid?" She looked up to see a dark skinned girl with pretty, curly hair sit in front of Elena.

Serine opened her mouth to speak, when the late bell rang. Serine smiled, and got ready for her first class.

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**please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hellooooo I'm back, I'm sorry this took so long (**_**MOM!**_**) Haha but I am excited for this chapter haha hope you love it! **

**I do not own Vampire diaries, but I do own Damon Salvatore…in my head.**

**Ok, I want to apologize for spelling Stefan's name wrong last chapter, and I would like to thank ilyphotography for pointing that out for me! Oopsies!**

**I would also like to thank the following for reviewing the last chapter:**

**Jerrychrys, Susan, Ladey Jezzabella, and ilyphotography. It means a lot to me to have reviewers! It also means a lot to have hits, although not as much. And I sure had a lot of them!!! I had 662 =o wow that's so cool!!!! Thank you all so much!**

Serine's P.O.V

Finally. My day was finally over. It wasn't bad, but I could not wait for it to be over. I was sitting on the bench in the front dedicated to a few kids who had died in a drunk driving incident. I would have normally felt bad for sitting here, but it was a bench, and kids had all sat here before they went home. That was half an hour ago. The last time I saw a kid leave was about fifteen minutes ago, and she jumped in the car with a teacher, so she had an excuse. My stepmother was supposed to pick me up. I didn't even bring my cell phone today, because I didn't want to be tempted to text on my first day. I had my iPod at least, so I was content. I was just sitting under a cherry blossom tree, listening to a new CD that I had just downloaded. I was humming to one of my favorite songs when I looked up to see a man walk by me.

A few people had walked by and I hadn't paid any attention, but this guy was eye-catching to say the least. He had dark hair, maybe brown, maybe black. He had these eyes that were an electric blue. He had a sharp jaw line and a cocky smile on his face. I was amazed at how hot he was. He looked anywhere between a mature 16 to a young 25. He had on a black leather jacket, but that's all I realized, because it just made him more bad ass than the rest of his looks. He looked up at me, and I quickly looked down at my iPod. I felt him stare at me, so I kept fidgeting with it. Finally he sat down right next to me. I looked up at him. He was staring at me still. I just looked up into his eyes, confused, and blinked. I felt a weird tingle go down my body. Nothing romantic, and not even the creeps or a random chill. It was as if my body was rejecting something. I was a little confused, but pushed it to the back of my mind for later.

His smile faltered when I just shrugged and turned back to my iPod. I decided to ignore him.

"Hello." I looked up into those eyes. They had such an effect on me that I couldn't even speak.

He kept on talking, so I didn't have to feel stupid for not answering. "My name is Damon Salvatore. I haven't seen you around here, are you new?" He gave me a smile that seemed off.

"Hi, I'm Serine. Yeah, I am new, just moved from Pennsylvania." Something about his name was so familiar.

"Really? So what brought you to this fine town of Mystic Falls?"

Finally I knew where I had heard that name. "Are you related to Stefan Salvatore?" I asked, avoiding his question; there was no way to answer it without getting personal, and I hadn't found a way to tell without it seeming like I was throwing myself a pity party. I only told Elena because it seemed like a good idea. It was like instinct.

He looked a little taken aback. "Yes, he is my brother, do you know him?"

I noticed that he didn't have the precise way of speaking, like Stefan. His speaking was much more natural. "Yes, I met his girlfriend today. She is so nice. He seems nice too, but I didn't get to speak to him much." I smiled.

"Yes, she is a sweetie, isn't she," His smile looked a little forced. "My brother on the other hand…Well let's just say there is more than what you see on the outside."

That through me off track for a second. "Um…are you two close?" I was forcing the conversation, because I didn't want him to think I was a bitch. The way he said that he knew I was new meant he probably knew everyone in this town. I didn't want to ruin my family's name. I didn't care much for my own; I was getting out of here as soon as possible.

"No. He took something very precious to me, and then lost it. It was a very long time ago, but I just can't seem to forgive him." He sighed and lowered his head.

For some reason, I felt sympathy for the stranger. I was about to try to comfort him, when he looked at me. I automatically just knew not to do it. I knew what it was like, to have people try to make things better, when we all knew they couldn't. All they would do is give false hope. I just gave a small smile. I hoped I conveyed that I knew what it was like, and even though I wouldn't say it, I was sorry for his loss.

"Do you know where it might be? What your brother lost I mean." I asked.

"You know what the funny thing is? I may not be able to forgive him for it, but I honestly don't know if I would want it back if I found it." His eyes seemed lost in thought.

I looked at him with concern. I wasn't sure what to say. There wasn't anything to make it better, and I knew that in this kind of situation, that talking about it wasn't going to make it better, so I gave him a gift. I subtly changed the subject. "Are you close with Elena?"

He gave me a smile "Yeah, you could say that. We are friends," He smiled, as if reminiscing. "So do you like it here?"

"It's really different. The people mostly nice. I met a few people who I could say seem like good candidates for friends," I smirked at him. I was getting strangely comfortable around this guy. He looked at me in the eyes then. I couldn't look away. I saw his pupils get smaller, and then got bigger, and bigger. I then felt that tingle feeling, but stronger. It seemed to start at my feet, and go up. I threw this into the back of my mind, like the other feeling. Just then, I heard a very distinct motor rev. I looked up at Damon. I smiled and said "That's my ride. Talk to you later?" Did I just flirt?!

He smirked, although it didn't have the same confidence that everything else had during our conversation. "Hope so." He then looked me up and down as I got up. "Bye Serine."

"Bye Damon." I smiled shyly at him as I opened the car door. I automatically rolled my eyes as I heard Kei$ha, and my two step sisters bickering. I was lucky enough to have missed that earlier this morning.

I caught him laughing at my face as I stepped inside, and sighed. The girls, who were in 11th, look at Damon, and practically drooled. I needed a picture of him so they would shut up that quickly more often.

I smiled, thinking of having a picture of Damon wherever I went. I quickly pushed the idea from my mind.

Great. Just what I needed. A random guy getting in my head. Maybe I could get Cheyenne to pick me up again tomorrow…


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys sorry this took so long. This story just didn't want to be written…so yea I have officially hit the 1,000 hit mark! I love you guys! **

**Big thank yous to Lucy(), Jerrychrys, and kiki**

**And also people who added me as alerts XD**

**Please enjoy the chapter!**

**I do not own the vampire diaries or any songs that I list…come on guys you should know that!**

I plopped myself on my bed once I walked through the door. I was too fast for any questions from my dad, and my step-sisters didn't care. I just threw my iPod on my docking station, and laid down. Breaking Benjamin came on; one of my favorites-forever. While I hummed along with the mellow tone, my mind took control and went over the day. My English class went good; I had done a lot of this in my old school, so most of it was just review. History was pretty boring, but the teacher was really cool. Most people just looked at me, but made no attempt to speak. Animal science was harder, because neither Kaylene, nor Elena or Stefan were there, so I had to stick it out alone. Spanish was ok. I got a Spanish name (Selene) but had to say a few sentences in Spanish about myself. Not fun. I can be shy at times, but have an eccentric one once I get comfortable. I had legs of jelly when I was up there, trying to pronounce the foreign words.

In lunch, I sat with Kaylene, because Elena said she had to go do something with Stefan. I saw the girl who sat with Kaylene on the bus; her name was Jenna. I also met Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's brother, who I think was on the bus. The three of them had more than enough room for me at the table. Jeremy seemed nice, although he was busy in some drawing pad most of the time. Jenna was very friendly and funny too. Kaylene was quiet, but laughed with us.

After that, I went to digital photography with Kaylene. The teacher had a very boring voice, just like Kaylene had told me. We had fun though; they had the day to work on a project of showing what their view of life was. We could go anywhere in the school. Kaylene and I went to a day care they have for kids of teachers or students. We took pictures of the kids playing.

We then went to our keyboarding class. I was a pretty good typist, so that gave me a good advantage. I was still pretty scared of the ruler that the teacher carried around with her. I shivered now just thinking of it.

Finally, my mind was at the part I was most looking forward to. Damon. I shivered again, but a different kind of shiver now.

My heart started to race. He was so strange. Why did he look at me like that? What happened? If I sit there again tomorrow, will he be there? What did Stefan take from him? I was so confused.

I sighed, and returned my attention to my music. I was now at us and them by Pink Floyd.

I took this opportunity of mental control to finish unpacking. I took off my hoodie, hung it in my closet, and got to work. I had stolen a few rolls of tape from downstairs. I took out my posters and started to hang them up. My walls were green, painted because of my stepsisters. It used to be eggshell white. I wasn't sure if I liked it or not. The floor was cherry hardwood; yet another addition from my stepsisters. I wasn't sure if they used to be in here, or if they merely helped decorate for my arrival.

Either way, mayday parade was going up, even if the paint was new. My stepmother seemed like the type who would freak if the paint started to peel because I used tape. Somewhere deep in my mind I knew I was doing this out of spite. Did this stop me? Hell no!

As I put on a dancey song, I started on my pictures. I had some in frames, and others that I was going to make a mural-like thing out of. That was going on my closet door.

Finally my room looked like it was mine. I had my pictures up, my posters, my lamp, and knick-knacks. I just had to go downstairs now to get Windex and paper towels to clean the window seat for my stuffed animals. As I walked downstairs, I heard someone at the door. The voice was so familiar.

"Really, I need to speak to her." Said the voice.

"Trust me; she is not worth speaking to. You know, I'm not big on conversations, but I make great company." I heard my stepsister say. Slut.

The voice laughs. "Nice to know, but I'm here to see Serine. Not you."

"But—"

"Courtney, shouldn't you tell me if I have someone here to see me?" I interrupted walking down the stairs.

"Oh Serine, I didn't know you were here! I thought you went out for a walk!" She said with a wickedly sweet voice.

"No, I never left, and never said I was going anywhere." I looked around her to see the body to the voice that had been in my head since I got home.

I just pushed past Courtney, and closed the door behind me, so that I was alone outside with Damon.

"Damon, hey, what's up?" I asked causally

"Hey Serine, you left this on the bench." I looked to see him holding up an elephant pin that I had on my purse.

My eyes widened. "Thank you! I can't believe I left this!" I was almost crying.

He seemed to notice this. "It's all right, it was just a pin." He seemed to be enjoying my humiliation.

I rolled my eyes and tried to calm down. "My mother gave it to me. The day before she died. Sorry if it has some sentimental value to me." I looked up at him with slight annoyance. Then something dawned on me.

"How did you know where I live?" I asked, amazed.

He smirked in reply. "I have my ways."

"Creeper," I muttered.

"What was that?" he asked, faking not hearing me

"Nothing!" I said, quickly taking my pin from his hand.

He chuckled and said, "That's what I though."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "That's not very mature." He commented, smirking, as usual.

"I never said I was mature." I said as I smirked back at him. I have a feeling that it didn't have the same effect as his did.

I had an urge to reach out and hug him. I actually felt my arm twitch toward him. I think he noticed this because the smirk became more defined. "Do you want to come in for a drink?" I asked.

Oh my god…did I just offer this practical stranger to come into my house? What had gotten into me?

"Sure." He answered. I opened the door, and Courtney fell on the floor. I just stared at her. "Very mature."

Damon just snickered next to me, but when we both turned to him, he had a straight face.

I shrugged it off, and walked into the kitchen. Damon followed next to me. He leaned down and whispered into my ear, "She never said she was mature."

I just turned to glare daggers at him. This didn't affect him the way I hoped it would. All it did was make him laugh more. That made me madder.

I walked toward the fridge to get him something. "What would you like; milk, orange juice, cranberry juice, apple juice…I could make lemonade…"

"Anything alcoholic?" he asked. I turned to give him an incredulous look. My look was met with one that seemed to be joking. So I ignored it. "Haha your face is so priceless when I piss you off. I'll take a glass of lemonade if you don't mind."

"Nope, no problem." I moved over to the sink to start filling it. "You don't mind powder, do you?"

"Nope." He said, lounging on our kitchen chair, feet forward, head on the back of the chair, butt on the front edge of the chair, and hands looped at the fingers behind his head. He just watched me as I made him the drink.

"So…do you go to school?" I asked, wanting to break the awkward silence.

"Nah, I graduated half a year early. Just doubled up on classes. And that was last year."

He did look older than Stefan, so I guess it wasn't surprising.

I was about to ask how old he was, when my other stepsister came in the room.

Of course she was totally made up, and looked perfect. She was bottle blonde, with a petite frame. She was practically perfect.

"Oh hello Serine, I didn't know we had company!" she commented, not even looking at me while I was being addressed. "Hello, my name is Tiffany. It's nice to meet you!" She held out her hand.

He took it gently, and kissed the back. "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Damon Salvatore."

She looked like she was about to faint. I felt like I was about to puke. He just looked cocky, but I have a feeling he looked like that a lot…

She finally realized she was practically drooling, and she just giggled. I rolled my eyes and went back to the lemonade. I finished mixing it, and pull out a glass. I gave him the glass. I wasn't really sure why he was still here. He decided to drink the lemonade very slowly. I poured myself one too.

I then saw something black and white rush to me. Tiffany screamed, while Damon made no signs of seeing her at all. I reached down and pet Sophie. Sophie was my pet border collie. She was so loveable, but it seemed as if this house was full of cat lovers.

"Oh how is my baby girl? Oh did you miss me while I was at school? Oh I missed you too." I was stroking her when Damon got up.

"Well, I have to get going. Stefan will start wondering where I am. And trust me, his thoughts won't be pretty. Can I have your number in case he doesn't believe me? I need an alibi." He gave me an innocent look. We had started walking toward the door by now.

I was still pretty ticked off at him with the whole Tiffany thing, so I just snidely replied: "Why don't you ask Tiffany?"

His smirk didn't falter in the least. He was outside by now. It had started to drizzle a bit. He turned to walk away when he replied, "Because I already got it."

With that I just slammed the door. I could hear him give a loud laugh. I scowled and stormed upstairs again. I got about two steps up, when someone knocked on the door. I didn't turn, but stopped walking.

"Go away Damon." I yelled

"It's not Damon." The voice yelled back.

I knew that voice. It was a voice that I had never expected to hear again. My eyes widened as I turned to see that familiar face smiling and waving at me through the window.

**Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys sorry this took me so long. I finally finished everything to do with school…until next year :D yay! About time…well I am sorry this story hasn't been doing too great lately, I hope it gets better. It has been kind of forced, but I shall try harder!

Thank you Jerrychrys and Susan for commenting :D

Do we really need disclaimers? Does anyone really think that I own this? *sigh* I'll do it anyway. I do not own anything except for Peter and Serine XD

I knew that voice. It was a voice that I had never expected to hear again. My eyes widened as I turned to see that familiar face smiling and waving at me through the window.

I saw the green eyes, the curly sandy blonde hair, tanned skin, and dimples in his cheeks. It my best friend from Pennsylvania, the one who had been with me through all of the bad times. He was one of the main reasons I didn't want to move away.

"Peter!" I yelled.

I ran to open the door for him, and as soon as it was open, we charged each other and hugged. I was so happy to see my best friend, regardless of why he was here. We just hugged for a few minutes not speaking.

"Peter, what are you doing here?" I asked, still stunned

"I came to see you! I was so bored at home, I didn't know what to do" I laughed. Peter graduated early in the year, and now was waiting a year to start college. His parents were a little weary with this plan, but accepted it.

I hugged him again. "Come on, you're welcome here!" I pulled him up the stairs into my room.

We sat on my bed talking for hours. I told him about the school, and the people; how different they were. He told me about the people back in PA; how they haven't changed at all. I told him about all of the people who I had made friends with, but for some reason, I didn't tell him about Damon. We had lost track of time after a while, until I heard the door slam downstairs, and my dad yelled his greetings.

I was going to just ignore him, when he knocked on my door. I sighed, and got up to open it. My dad opened his mouth to speak, when he saw a boy…on my bed. Great.

"Who's that?" he asked, his face growing red.

"That's my friend from PA! He came to visit!" I exclaimed, trying to act as innocent as possible, as if nothing could have happened.

My father glared at Peter, who just innocently looked up at him.

He got up, and shook my dad's hand. "Hello sir, my name is Peter."

My dad still looked mad, and grumbled what sounded like a greeting. I may have not seen my dad in a while, but I still knew how he acted. There was only one thing I could do in this situation to stop my dad from freaking out. Distract him with other information he might enjoy.

"Hey daddy, a guy came over today and him and Tiffany traded phone numbers! He seemed to be about college age too…he's probably mature enough for her! Aren't you happy for her?" I smiled up at him with a toothy grin. He grumbled again and stomped back down the stairs.

I went back in my room, closing the door behind me. Peter and I made eye contact and just stared at each other, thinking of what just happened. Then, at exactly the same time, we burst out laughing. We were holding our sides, and crying from laughing so hard. Finally, after rolling on the ground for a few minutes, we caught our breath.

"We should probably go outside and get your stuff." I said, slipping on my sneakers. He nodded, and opened the door. We were secretly bringing his stuff in. My father would never allow me to have a boy in my room. We had him sneaking his stuff to the stairs, where I would throw it into my oversized closet. The closet was almost as big as the room itself, which wasn't big for a room, but big for a closet. After our 'ninja moves', as Peter called it, we set him up. He actually brought his mattress. Not the box spring, just the mattress, but still. That was a pain in the ass to sneak up here.

I didn't need the closet that much. I had a big old wardrobe, that was passed down from my mom's side of the family. It was very pretty.

I left Peter to put his clothes in an extra little old dresser that was here when I arrived. I sat down on my bed, and smiled at the ceiling.

"Dinner!" I heard Cheyenne yell up the stairs. After a minute or two, I heard two pairs of footsteps belonging to my step sisters going down the stairs, and I decided to go too. I knocked on the closet door. "Come in," he said. "Hey what's up?" he asked.

"I'm going down stairs for dinner, I'll sneak you something up." I smiled. After everything was upstairs, he had pretended to say goodbye, and he hid his truck in the woods behind our house somewhere. He then climbed up to my window from a tree. A very cliché way to do things, but it worked.

I did just as I had promised. I ate, speaking as little as possible, cleaned up, and brought up the pasta. I did homework while he ate. I still couldn't believe he was here. This was so great!

We both finished around the same time. I sat in the closet with him after that. He had made it pretty roomy. It had a radio, a clock, a few pictures, and a bunch of cds on top of the dresser. He had to duck a little when he walked in, because the bar for clothes was still there, but it was deal able.

"Your parents just let you leave? Just like that?" I asked. Now that the surprise of him being here was gone, I was thinking straight.

"I told them I was staying with a friend. I was going to ask you, and if you said no, I have a relative who offered me a room whenever I want. He's my cousin, and is honestly a little creepy." He told me, laughing.

I laughed with him. "Yeah, no offence, I've met your family…some of them could be quite creepy."

"Your family here is so…different than your mother and her family. How are you so relaxed?" he was curious, not teasing.

"I don't know. I don't understand it either. It is just kind of homey. Don't get me wrong, my family here irritates the hell out of me at times," we both thought of Tiffany and shuttered, "but I can ignore them."

He nodded, accepting this explanation. We just sat in a comfortable silence after that. Finally, I looked at the clock. It was almost ten thirty. Time for sleep.

"Hey, I've got to get to sleep. No one should be here tomorrow after ten, so u can venture then." I smiled at him. "I'll be back about three."

"Ok, good night Serine."

"Night, Peter. I'm really glad you came." I hugged him for the thousandth time today.

He hugged me back. "Me too Serine."

How was it? I think this is one of the better chapters from this story. Again, sorry this took so long…I hope this chapter makes up for it XD Please review! I'll update faster if I get more reviews…let's say if I get five, I'll do a week, if I get more than that, I'll try faster!


	7. Chapter 7

**hey guys. Sorry this is late again. I dont have a real excuse this time :c( well i hope you like this chapter! I got an idea for the next few! **

**I do not own vampire diaries...i only own the family i placed, and Serines oc friends.**

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I woke up to my alarm blaring in my ears. I sat up groggily and hit the off button. I yawned and stretched up, when I remembered yesterday's occurrences.

I jumped out of bed with a random burst of energy. I put my ear to my closet and heard snoring. My face broke out into a smile. I ran to the other side of the room and picked out clothes.

'What should I wear today?' I thought to myself

I decided on a black t-shirt that my friends from Pennsylvania had signed their names on with a silver sharpie, and some old, comfortable jeans. I just pulled on my socks, and my converse that my friend drew elephants on.

I brushed out my hair, and put it into a loose pony-tail. After I threw on some eye liner and lip gloss, I wrote a note to peter, reminding him of the schedule of when people left and came home.

I ran down the stairs to see my dad sitting and reading the paper, just like yesterday. I looked at the time and decided I had enough time to sit for a few minutes and watch the news. My dad looked at me over his newspaper and smiled.

"Morning sunshine," He said. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I smiled back.

"Morning dad."

"How are you princess?" This time I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm great thank you. It is a beautiful day, I have my beautiful daughter here with me, I have my beautiful wife and step-daughters that are going out to dinner with—"he stopped short. He then started again "Are you going to be busy tonight? Me and Cheyenne are taking the girls out tonight for a celebration for winning their cheerleading title. You can come."

I thought about it. It was kind of obvious he wasn't used to me being here, so it makes sense that he forgot to ask me to go to dinner with him. So, to make it less awkward for all of us, and so I could have more time with peter, I decided to decline.

"No thanks, I have to study for a test I have. I want to be more comfortable with the material. Plus I have more unpacking to do." I smiled so he knew it wasn't personal. Even if it kind of was.

He looked relieved. Cheyenne came in then, looking very professional again, as always. She smiled at me. "Good morning Serine. Would you like a ride home again today? I could just do it every day if you would like." She asked me with a natural smile on her face. I nodded. I liked her. She could be a little over perfect, but she could be likable. Before anyone could say anything else, I stood back up and grabbed my backpack. "Bye!" I yelled over my shoulder as I walked out.

I walked down the street, wondering if today would be like yesterday. Maybe Elena got her car fixed, and I was cursed to be bullied by Caroline all year? I sighed but smiled when I saw Kaylene in the same spot as yesterday.

I walked next to her. "Morning Kaylene!" I said cheerfully

She smiled back at me and said in a quiet voice "Good morning Serine. How are you?"

"Good, how about you?" I asked.

"Tired and cold," she laughed a little. "School will be boring today. It's just a review in most of my classes."

"How are you cold? It's so nice out!" I was surprised.

She opened her mouth to answer when she started glaring at something over my shoulder.

I turned and saw Damon stepping out of a car. He was in jeans, a black t-shirt and the same leather jacket as yesterday. He waved at me when he saw me looking. I was confused but waved back half-heartedly.

He walked over to me and Kaylene. She seemed pretty mad. I wondered why she was so upset over the appearance.

"Do you two need a ride to school?" He asked casually.

"Did you wake up early, get ready, and drive out here just to give us a ride to school?" My face turned from questioning to skeptical.

He smiled slyly. "I got a job at the school. I was passing by and noticed you two here. I decided to be a good Samaritan and see if you wanted a ride to school." He had a look of mock hurt on his face. "And this is how I am treated. Nice to know how you feel."

"Thanks Damon. Wait, you got a job at the school? You? A job? With real people? Don't make me laugh." Kaylene asked. I had never expected her to be like this. Luckily I saw the bus coming down the street. Damon seemed to enjoy making her frustrated so I quickly intervened.

"Thanks for the offer Damon, but the bus is here already. Maybe tomorrow!" I threw him a quick smile and dragged Kaylene to the front of the line so she was away from Damon A.S.A.P.

Jenna wasn't here today so I sat with Kaylene on the bus. I let her have the window seat though, because she told me she loves it, even though Jenna gets it each time. She didn't even talk about the scene with Damon. We had a conversation about our pets. I was told her about my border collie, and she had a husky mix named sage, and a boxer named Eli. Apparently Eli was just a funny little bundle of energy.

We were talking when I looked over a few seats and saw Caroline. She was pouting again. The bus stopped and Elena and Stefan came on the bus. I was excited to see Elena again; I had really clicked with her. Stefan seemed really nice too; I just hadn't had a chance to really talk to him.

The two seemed worried while walking down the bus aisle. They sat across the aisle from me, with Elena on the outside. She turned to me and her look brightened considerably. I could still see that something was upsetting her by a look in her eyes.

"How was your first day?" She asked me.

"It was good," I said, "A lot better than I thought it would be."

She smiled "I'm glad. If anyone bothers you, please let me be the first to know. No one would do it again." She seemed tough, but I wasn't sure if anyone would really be afraid of her.

I just smiled back. "Thank you. Do you think anyone around here really would though?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. You are lucky that you haven't met any of them yet. They can be real pain in the asses."

I laughed. "Yeah it seems as if every school has a few of those, huh?"

She laughed with me. "Yes. Right Stefan?" She asked her boyfriend. He leaned forward so he could see me and nodded. "Stefan has been to a few different schools."

"And each one, without a doubt had a few jerks of its own. Usually my brother was one of them." Stefan chuckled.

Then I remembered Damon. "Oh, Damon? Yeah, I met him yesterday. He seems…nice…" I trailed off, with a grimace, letting them finish the sentence.

They both looked at each other and laughed a little. Elena looked worried again. "How do you know Damon?" She asked me, casually, but probably not as subtle as she would have liked.

"We met yesterday when I was waiting for my ride home."

"He's trouble. You should try to stay away." This came from Kaylene though, who must have been listening to our conversation. She made eye contact with Stefan and I saw her nod.

This town is so weird.


	8. Chapter 8

I just shrugged off Kaylene's warning. I decided that after that, I better not mention that he knew where I lived. That probably wouldn't fix the situation. Stefan seemed upset too. He and Kaylene gave each other strange looks. I tried not to worry about them, but I got a bad feeling from them.

"So, do you have any relatives here?" Elena asked me.

I almost said no, but realized that my step sisters counted as relatives, even though I didn't consider myself to be related to them.

"Yeah, I have two step-sisters: Courtney and Tiffany."

Kaylene coughed on the iced tea she was drinking because she was laughing. I turned to glare at her. I turned to see Elena laughing too and Stefan smiling. "Yeah, I know. Lucky me." I said flatly.

Kaylene held up a hand while she caught her breath. I rolled my eyes but smiled.

Elena composed herself first. "You have Courtney and Tiffany Reilly for step sisters? I am so sorry for you Hun. You have to live in the same house. I can't deal being on the same cheerleading squad. That's one of the many reasons I quit."

That made me laugh. "They made you quit the team? Wow, that's horrible."

Kaylene was still laughing beside me. I turned to her. "Stop laughing at me!" I acted like I was annoyed and hurt. It was obvious I wasn't really though. This only made her laugh harder. Her attitude was changing quickly, I noticed. Elena, Stefan and I just stared at her as she slowly but surely calmed down. Finally she took a deep breath and looked at me. "They are like your absolute opposite. I don't know which one of them I hate more. Tiffany is such a bitch whore all the time, but Courtney just follows her around like a lost little puppy dog. To put it simply, I feel sorry for you." Elena nodded in agreement with this.

"I know. They annoy me too." I said "Do you guys have any brothers or sisters?"

Elena nodded towards the boy sitting in front of her. It was Jeremy. I already knew that they were related. I just nodded towards Stefan, because I already knew he had Damon. I turned to Kaylene, but she was fussing with her iPod, so I let it go.

We arrived at the school at about the same time as yesterday. Elena and me walked in together again, and waved at Kaylene as she walked down the opposite hall. Elena and I chatted casually as we went in our lockers.

"I think that they are just too messy. Cats are pretty much hassle free." Elena said.

"Did you know that if you were to die, a cat would eat you, but a dog would starve by your side?" I stated.

"Really? Huh. I did consider getting one. I just don't think that I would make a good pet owner."

"Well what about your brother or your aunt?"

"They are always out and about." She sighed.

"Well, you could always bring him to my house. I always wanted a dog. Of course my brother would do anything for you." The sentence startled both of us. We turned to see Damon leaning on the locker on my right.

I was still a little confused about Damon. He seemed pretty nice to me when we had talked. Since then he has been snarky and had a 'too cool for you attitude'.

Elena just slammed her locker, grabbed my arm and pulled me away. "Sorry Damon, we have stuff to do. Go play somewhere else."

He grabbed my other arm. "Wait, I just wanted to talk to you guys. How about if you listen, I'll buy you whatever puppy you want?"

Elena pulled the arm she was holding. I jerked that way, but Damon wasn't letting go. "Go to hell Damon. I don't want to talk to you right now. Go away." She said.

Damon pulled on the arm he was in possession of. Elena moved a little bit, but held on. I tried pulling my arms back but they didn't even notice. I even tried pleading, but they couldn't hear me. "I'm not going anywhere. I don't know why any of you can't understand this." Damon retorted.

I tried leaning towards Damon's arm so I could bite him or anything to get at least one of my arms back, but I couldn't reach, or pull Elena closer. When I tried the other way, I got the same result. This was really hurting, and my books fell. People were staring at us, but no one helped, despite the faces I was making. "No one wants you here. Why can't you understand this?"

Elena and Damon were both glaring at each other. They obviously didn't see anything else. I was starting to really feel the pain. They pulled a little harder. I was now almost crying.

Finally, I wound up kicking Damon's shin. He didn't seem to be hurt, but I got his attention. He looked at my face, and let go. He was still scowling. "Sorry." He muttered to me.

Elena seemed to realize what she was doing once Damon let go. She quickly let go of my hand. "Sorry Serine!"

I just hung my arms loosely at my sides. It felt a lot better. "It's ok guys." I turned to Elena. "Come on, class is starting soon. We'll see you later Damon." I smiled up at him, and waved as I pulled Elena towards the classroom. I honestly forgot where it was, so I needed her to start leading soon.

Finally she started walking forward on her own. I turned in time to see Damon give me a little smirk and a wave. I smiled back. I faced forward, and walked into a huge kid, and landed on my butt in front of everyone. Why must Damon constantly be distracting me in this place?


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys. I know this is a regular thing, but I really am sorry for this taking so long. I'm going to try to crack down on this story. Hey question, does anyone want to beta this story for me? It would mean a lot XD *clasps hands together and looks up with puppy eyes* Just leave a review or send me a message if you do XD well, on to the story. I'm going to try to make stuff actually start happening, instead of those filler chapters I've been having lately. -_- Please please please review!

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I sat down in class wondering why everyone hated Damon so much. Sure he seemed like a real snarky bastard and a pain in the ass, but weren't these reactions a bit much? I thought of this while I sat through English. Everyone was busy doing the assignment that the teacher had given us. We had to write a story. That's all. There were no limits, just guidelines. I had no idea what to do for mine. I wasn't sure if I should write a story from my imagination or a story from my life, like when I came here.

"Okay guys, ten more minutes to write ideas, then we're going to the library for the computers and any resources you need." Mrs. Amzy announced.

I stared down at the paper. It was empty, except for my name at the top. The paper was due in two months. That meant that this teacher wanted a good job done. Great.

"There will be assistants there. They can help you with your writing. Use the help given people; they want to help with the grades!" The older teacher told us all, in a loud voice.

Mrs. Amzy was tall and skinny. She was elderly, but was still kind most of the time, but could be very strict when she needed to. She had gray hair that she wore up in a tight bun that didn't have a hair out of place. She was a great teacher. She knew how to help us remember things, and how to write nicely. It turns out that they had been doing a writing segment in class for a month or two already.

I looked down again. This time blank page stared back at me. The empty lines screaming at me. The class room was silent except for the sound of the pencils scratching down what was on the minds of the students.

I didn't realize how long I had been glaring at the paper, willing for words to write themselves. It turns out the next thing I knew, Mrs. Amzy was telling us to collect our things and start quietly walking to the library.

I looked desperately at Kaylene, who had a whole page written down. I looked around and saw that Elena and Stefan had the same results. I sighed, and hid my paper in the purple folder in my backpack, and hurried to catch up with my friends, since I had no idea where the library was.

I wound up walking next to Kaylene, since I saw Elena and Stefan holding hands and looking romantic. I hated to interrupt moments like those.

"What are you writing about?" Kaylene asked me, her voice quiet as usual.

"Um, see the thing about that is…I have no idea." I admitted, a little embarrassed by this.

She didn't seem to judge at all. "Well, maybe someone at the library can help you find a subject."

I smiled. I had almost forgotten about the helpers. "That's right! I can ask them for help!" Maybe this assignment wouldn't be a failure.

When we finally got to the library, we all spread out. Everyone got their own little table area, and there was enough room for the helper if they needed one. I saw older college age students start to walk out of the back room. They were led by a large lady. She was not over weight large; she was tall, broad and had an overwhelming presence. She had red hair, and deep moss green eyes.

I didn't pay much attention. Kids were still situating and I had to ask Kaylene, who I was sitting next to, a question.

"Hey, we don't have to read these out loud do we?"

She laughed a little. "No, but if Amzy likes one a lot, she might read it out loud and anonymously."

I nodded. This was ok.

I was about to ask about the word limit. We had to have at least 10000 words, but I wanted to know if she graded better if we had much more, like some teachers I had in the past. I couldn't ask though, because the librarian made an announcement. I looked up to see the last few people filing out of the room.

"People! Can we calm down? Thank you. These are going to be your guides. You will each get one to help you out. You I don't want you all running around like chickens without heads, so they will be going to you. I want low voices though people." She boomed out. She had our attention in an instant. Then the feminine side of the class turned their attention to someone who was next to the librarian.

Damon was standing there, playing on his phone, ignoring everyone. When he finally looked up, his brilliant blue eyes swept the class. They landed on Elena and Stephan first. He smirked a little, but kept his gaze moving. When he saw Kaylene and me sitting not too far from where he was standing, he waved at me. I smiled back.

The librarian turned to the helpers. "Okay, go get 'em guys!"

Damon automatically walked over towards my table. He made eye contact with me the whole time; not breaking it once on his way over. Every girl was practically jumping out of their seats to get to his attention before he sat down, but it didn't work.

He sat right across from me, clasping his hands together on the table, ignoring the glare he got from my friend.

I looked up at her, and smiled a little. "I'll be ok, go find a partner. Don't worry."

She didn't look too convinced, but she still nodded, and walked away, leaving with a weary glance towards me, and a glare in Damon's direction.

"I have the feeling she doesn't like me." Damon said, rubbing the back of his neck.

I just shrugged. "I honestly don't know."

He smirked, his sarcastic look back on his face. "Oh, please, I know you guys are always talking about me."

I just rolled my eyes at that. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

He chuckled at that. "Ok, now let's get to work." He surprised me there. I was a little unsure about him as my partner, because I thought that he wouldn't take this seriously. "So what do you have so far?"

I blushed a little at that. "Absolutely nothing."

He smiled at me. This one was reassuring. I had never seen him really smile. They were all sarcastic and/or snarky, or something along those lines. So I had to smile back. I still couldn't understand why everyone hated this guy.

Except for Kaylene, Elena and Stefan, everyone seemed to be almost afraid of this guy. Sure the eyes of the girls lingered on him with lust, and guys glared at him with envy, but no one would really approach him.

"Well, I guess that should be our first objective. So let's think. You could write about a friend back where you moved from." I made a face at that, and he smiled and thought. "Maybe you could write about why you came here."

I wasn't too sure about this.

'Why wouldn't you want them to know? They should all know that you've been put through pain.'

'It's not something that you just share with everyone. It might even seem like you are asking for attention.'

"Well, if you're not sure about it, we can do something else. You can do a—"

"No, no I don't mind. I think it might be a little boring and too personal though." I interrupted.

"Well, I tend to find that the more personal it gets, the better the writing is." He shrugged.

I thought about it again for a minute. Then I looked up at his face and nodded.

"Good. Now let's start listing what you will put in the story."

We worked on that for about half an hour. Class was about to end when he started to look uneasy. He looked at me, confused. I gave him a questioning look back, but before I could ask what was wrong, someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to see Mrs. Amzy.

"Serine, the principal wants to see you."

"Why?" I asked, scared, and racking through my brain for anything that could have gotten me in trouble.

"He didn't tell me. Now please pack up your stuff and walk to the main office."

"I'm not completely sure how to get there." I told her hesitantly

"Mr. Salvatore. Please escort her to the office? Thank you." She left before he could answer. She seemed a little freaked out by him.

"Well, let's go." He said, standing up. I nodded.

Before I walked out the door, I turned to see Kaylene, Elena, and Stefan, all with scared looks on their faces. I guess this made me the only one who wasn't afraid of the guy. It also made me mad. No one would let this guy make up for whatever he did, and from what Damon told me, Stefan is the one who did something wrong. Why is Damon getting ostracized for it? Oh, well. I'll be his friend. No matter what happens. I know what it's like to be lonely, and if I can help someone from being alone, then I would, no doubt about it.

Damon turned around to me. "You coming?"

I turned back to him. "Yup!" and I went to walk next to the beautiful man, who wouldn't be lonely anymore if I had anything to do with it.

* * *

**Wow, im happy with how that came out! Yay! Well, please review! **


	10. Chapter 10

***rises from grave* I'm….I'm alive! Hello people from the interwebs. So…I'm so sorry. I know I've said that a lot the last few chapters, but wow, over a whole year? I'm soososososososo sorry. I hope someone is still out there reading this 3 Have faith my people, I will finish this. :'D **

**So, I'd just like to say, this whole story isn't during any certain part. It's just kinda in the middle of nowhere. I'm not gonna go by the show or the books timeline, I'm goin my own way B) *bad ass loner look***

I jogged forward to catch up to Damon, my new oath burning bright in my heart. He turned to look at me. He gave me a big smile and chuckled. That smile was so pretty. How could someone so beautiful be hated so horribly?

"Thank you for leading me Damon. Not a lot of people would have patience with the new kid."

He looked down at me with a warm smile. I watched as it reached his eyes and made them sparkle more than before. Then he looked away. "Stop thanking me for stupid stuff, and come on. Do you have any idea why you are being called down to the office?"

I thought about it for a minute. What if Peter was caught? This would never work. He couldn't stay in there. What was I thinking?

As I was pondering I realized that Damon was still waiting for an answer. He looked worried.

"Damon?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeeeees?" he asked with a smile, but not as easy going as before.

"Why are you here?"

"To help students such as yourself m'lady." He bowed mockingly.

I rolled my eyes. "Really. From what I understand, you are more selfish than to come here for the good will of other people."

"Ouch. You don't beat around the bush, do you?" I shook my head. "I'm here to keep an eye on things…you know, Skype things out. There are problems around here." He paused for a minute. He seemed to be contemplating something. "I like you. I think that you should leave town on the 29th. Trust me."

A million more questions flew around in my head. I stopped walking and looked up to face him directly. Just as I was about to let the words fly out of my mouth, his eyes became guarded. He put his pointer finger on my mouth and just shook his head. "Not now; maybe another time. For now, let's get you to the principal's office."

I nodded, but I would remember to ask him. I wouldn't forget this, but I would let it pass for this moment.

"Let's go."

"No sir. I had no idea." I stopped myself from turning to the girls next to me and biting their heads off.

The principal sighed. "Okay. Tiffany and Courtney. In school suspension. 2 weeks. Now get out of here." The two blondes ran out.

The principal, Mr. Ursa, looked at me again. "I'm sorry about this Selene. I hope you weren't scared. I hope all of your classes are going well. You can go back to your class. Actually," He looked at his watch "You can make your way to your next period class." He smiled at me. "Have a nice day!" And he just walked me out of the room and closed the door before I could respond to anything.

I walked out of the office not paying attention to where I was. I was busy studying my map, trying to figure out how to get to my next period class from where I was. Then I walked into someone.

"Whoa, there." I was caught by strong arms, and looked up, only to be completely lost in crystal blue eyes. I quickly had to shake it off though, and stood up on my own.

I laughed nervously. "Hi, Damon. You waited here? I thought you'd have gone back to the library to help some more than willing girl."

"Nah! They're all overrated in there." He looked down, towards his shoes. "Thought I'd help a certain maiden in distress find her way around instead." He gave me a small smile and looked up at me through hooded lids.

The breath caught in my lungs for a minute. I wasn't used to any man treating me like this; let alone someone as beautiful as Damon. I looked away from him, and stared at my map again. "I can do it myself. Look. I have a map!"

He chuckled. "Listen kiddo, I don't wanna go back in there. You saw how they glared at me. Do you really expect anyone to put themselves in that kind of a situation? Now. How about you just let me be the amazing chivalrous, gallant gentleman that I am, and let me walk you to your next class?"

I blew my bangs out of my face. "You're sure you don't have somewhere better to go? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love to walk with you, but, I mean—"

"Then it's settled! Let's go kiddo."

"Why do you keep calling me that? I'm not that much younger than you. I mean, I know I'm younger than most kids in my grade, but you're only, like, twenty something, right? Or are you younger? Or older? I'm sorry, I'm not good at—"

"Do you usually have a rambling problem?" He started to laugh. "I'm a bit older than I look kiddo. How old are you anyways? Sixteen?"

I glared up at him. I had just turned seventeen a month ago in November. "I'm seventeen, for your information."

"Really? Hmm."

"What? Why 'hmm'? "

He just smirked. "Whatever do you mean?"

I just rolled my eyes and went around him to get to class.

"Hey kiddo, you're going the wrong way. Class is this way!" He pointed in the opposite direction that I was headed. I just turned and walked past him again, in the right direction this time.

He shook his head and laughed, but followed me.

After a few moments of silence he looked down at me. "Do you like it here so far?"

"It's different. I generally like the people. Like Kaylene and Elena and Stefan, and Jeremy, and—"

"Wow you met the whole troupe, didn't you?"

"Is that a bad thing?" I didn't say this with anger, it was more confusion.

"No, they're all good people."

I looked up at him, trying to read through his expressionless mask. "Why do they hate you so much Damon?" I breathed

"I can't explain it. Trust me, if I could, I would tell you. Maybe eventually you'll find out. Then you'll stop being nice to me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Cus they might tell you some horrible things. Things that I may not be able to deny truthfully."

I opened my mouth to erase his doubt, the promise to myself ringing in my ears, but he suddenly halted in front of a door and looked down at me with a casual cocky grin on his face. "The Salvatore express ends here madam." He bowed. "I'll be seeing you later then."

He lifted himself from the bow, and was about to turn to walk away, when I embraced him in a tight hug. I was embarrassing myself. I quickly turned and walked into the classroom without looking at him again.


End file.
